it takes two

This week, we redecorated, reorganized and re-DID the boys room! I have been thinking about changing things up for awhile just because the boys are growing up and their needs are changing and so we finally just bit the bullet and did it! Now, just in case you have been living under a rock and don't know...I'M ANAL!!!! I'm extremely OCD, a neat freak, a weirdo...whatever you wanna call it! Ha! I organize things to calm myself down and can literally organize and re-organize a closet just because I come up with an idea that I think might function better! I find it fun and exciting! I'm crazy, I know. Anyway, if there's one room in my house that can literally drive me crazy and give me an anxiety attack it's...THE BOYS ROOM!! When the boys were little I could pick up their room each evening and keep it looking "showroom ready" if you will...but now they pick up their own toys, they make their own beds and while they do a great job let's just say that it's not exactly how mommy would do it. I let the boys have their independence and do things their way (including putting away a lego in the action figure bin!! AAAAHHHH!!) but I'm not gonna lie...when I walk into their room it can sometimes drive me absolutely crazy!! I have to continually fight the urge not to dump everything out onto the floor and start completely over. So, going into this "remodel" I wanted to make it orderly, clean and function the very best it could. I wanted to make it easy for my boys to make it look neat and I wanted to make it very "boy".

For starters, I let the boys each choose one paint color and we combined those colors to make their walls super cool and super unique. Now, when I told the boys they could choose "whatever color they wanted" I didn't think it all the way through. When we got to Lowe's, Ashtyn chose his color VERY quickly. He wanted green! As Maddox stood there pondering what color he wanted his first choice was something I hadn't thought about a kid trying to choose...black!! Yikes!! I wasn't too sure about painting a wall black and so I tried to steer him into something more...oh I don't know....color-ish! That's where I made my second mistake. Maddox did choose more of a color the next time around but this time he wanted RED!! Now, imagine that...Ash had already chose green and now Maddox wanted red. Oh no. All I could think was "my kids room is gonna look like a giant Christmas ornament..." Oh goodness. At that point, I made up a little white lie and told Maddox that I didn't think red paint would show up over the blue that was already on the walls. Oops. I felt bad but thankfully he bought it. At that point, Maddox was kind of frustrated and so I pulled out all different sorts of browns and grays thinking that those were dark colors and as close to black as I was willing to go. FINALLY, Maddox picked gray and I think the color combination worked out wonderfully! I bought the green paint Ash wanted and the dark gray Maddox chose and then I also bought a very light gray to add a little light to the room. We painted each of the larger walls in the boys room their dark color choice and then on the shorter walls we painted a stripe including each of the boys colors as well as the light gray! I love the way it turned out!

On the main wall in the boys room, we put a wall length shelf high above the boys heads. This we are using to store all of the castles and ships the boys have collected over the years. I wanted to get them up off the floor and free up some more play space. Above the shelf, we hung some of the boys posters. The boys have just started receiving posters and wanting to buy them when we are shopping so I wanted to include them in their new room. Below the shelf, we covered the wall in sheets of metal so that the entire lower half of the wall is magnetic and the boys can use it to display their artwork! As you can see, they've already started filling it up! Lastly, on this main wall, we put the boys desk up against the wall where they can sit and color or do homework. Then we hung three baskets on the wall above the desk to hold markers and crayons. So far, it's working perfectly!!

 

It's very hard to see because the sun is shining through the windows but for curtains I bought plain white panel curtains and let the boys decorate them themselves with fabric markers! I thought it would be a creative and cool idea that would let the boys have some personal influence on the design of their room. Just as you probably guessed, Maddox drew all sorts of fighting scenes on his curtain. There are many guns, swords, light sabers and action figure characters!!

The boys and I did this canvas artwork project to hang over their bed. The top canvas is covered in their hand prints and the bottom canvas is signed by each of my little artists!

We also let the boys choose a new blanket for their beds. They've always had matching bedding so I wanted to let them have what they wanted. Ashtyn chose Angry Birds and Maddox chose Star Wars.Oh! And Yes! That's Ashtyn's very first solar system hanging form the ceiling at the center of the room. He's our little scientist!

Next to the toy storage shelf, under the window, we hung two coat hooks to store the boys dress up clothes!!

This is Ashtyn's curtain!! Unlike his little brother, Ash drew a rainbow, a sunshine, BACON, a cross and the name "Jesus"!! My boys couldn't be more different and I love each of them and their own personalities!!

Above a third bookshelf, we hung two plastic baskets to store the boys small stuffed animals. Stuffed animals always seem to end up strewn all over the floor, cluttering the bed or taking up space where other toys should go...so I had to come up with some better storage to contain all the animals and yet display them at the same time.

The boys are in love with their new room and that makes me love it even more!! I'm proud of all our ideas and excited at how it is functioning so far!! Plus, it's always fun to see your kids excited about their toys again. What is it about a good ol' fashion re-organization that makes everything seem new once again!?!? I hope this room will stay cool for a long time and will grow with my boys over the years.